Malawi

The tourist brochures bill Malawi as 'the warm heart of Africa', and for once the hype is true. Malawi's scenery is gorgeous and varied and Malawians tend to be extremely friendly toward travellers. Nature lovers will adore the national parks and game reserves, mountain hiking and plateau trekking.

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Malawi has a single wet season, from December to March, when daytime temperatures are warm and conditions humid. May to August is dry and cool. September and October can become extremely hot and humid, especially in low areas. Average daytime maximums in the lower areas are about 21°C (70°F) in July and 26°C (79°F) in January. In the higher areas, the climate is pleasant, with temperatures averaging around 20°C (68°F)between November and April, and 27°C (81°F)from May to October. Average night-time temperatures in the highlands are low, sometimes dropping below freezing on clear nights in July. On the lakeshore temperatures are higher.

Transport

Getting around

You can travel around Malawi by air, road, rail or boat. Distances between major centres are short and the roads are good. Air Malawi has a couple of flights daily between Lilongwe and Blantyre, and four flights weekly between the capital and Mzuzu. The main airport is 25km (15mi) north of Lilongwe. Taxis are the easiest way into town, and there's also an airport shuttle that will drop you at several central hotels.

Most buses in Malawi are operated by a private company called Shire Bus Lines, which runs several different kinds of bus at varying levels of comfort and price. The most comfortable (and most expensive) is Coachline, a luxury line that runs non-stop between Lilongwe and Blantyre (about 5 hours), and between Lilongwe and Mzuzu (about 7 hours). The Express service is also pretty good: fast, comfortable buses between the main towns with limited stops and no standing passengers. Long-distance (local or ordinary) buses are slow and stop everywhere.

The train in Malawi is slow, crowded, limited (there are no passenger trains to the capital, for instance) and not particularly useful unless you're headed between Liwonde and Nayuchi on the Mozambique border. The main line runs north from Blantyre to Balaka (northwest of Zomba) and south from Limbe (just south of Blantyre) to Nsanje, in the far south of the country, although flood damage to a bridge in 1998 limits southward train travel as far as Makhanga.

The main road through Malawi runs from the north down to Mzuzu, then through the centre of the country to Lilongwe, and onto Blantyre and the south. It's mostly good-quality tar, but in recent years several stretches of road have become very badly potholed, making driving difficult and sometimes dangerous. Most car hire companies are based in Lilongwe and Blantyre. You'll need an international driving permit; driving is on the left.

Every week, the Ilala passenger ferry chugs up and down Lake Malawi between Monkey Bay and Chilumba, stopping at a dozen towns and villages including several on the Mozambique side of the lake. Contact Malawi Lake Services. As this boat is the only means of transport to many villages it also carries cargo so expect delays (which could stretch to many hours) if there's a lot to load or offload.

Getting there and away

Most international flights from Europe or other parts of Africa use Lilongwe International Airport, although a few regional flights go to/from Blantyre. Regional destinations with direct flights to/from Malawi include Harare (Zimbabwe), Nairobi (Kenya), Lusaka (Zambia), Johannesburg (South Africa), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Maputo (Mozambique). Even when two airlines serve the same route, fares are pretty much the same. British Airways flies between Lilongwe and London once a week. There are daily flights to Nairobi from Tuesday to Sunday, from whence you can continue to Europe. You can also connect with flights to Europe and Australia from Johannesburg.

The Malawian ferry Ilala connects Malawian ports with Metangula and Cóbuè, Mozambique. Train, minibus or your own 4WD are the best ways to get between Malawi and northern Mozambique at Nayuchi. Once in Mozambique, there are twice-weekly trains between Nampula and Cuamba. Crossing other points of the Malawian border will involve a bus, a car or feet. If you're heading for Tete, Mozambique, there are frequent buses between Mwanza and Zóbuè. Other bus routes between Malawi and Mozambique include Nsanje and Villa de Sena, just south of the Zambezi River, and Chiponde and Mandimba.

The only land crossing between Malawi and Tanzania is at the Songwe River bridge north of Kaporo, in the far northwestern tip of Malawi. Buses and minibuses make the run daily. The main crossing point between Malawi and Zambia is about 30km (20mi) east of Chipata, on the main road between Lilongwe and Lusaka. All crossing points on the Malawi border are open roughly from 06:00 to 18:00.

Health & Legal Requirements

Visas overview

Citizens of Commonwealth countries, the USA and most European nations (except Switzerland) receive a free, automatic 30-day tourist visa at the point of entry. Extensions (also free, and up to a maximum total stay of 90 days) are easy to arrange at the immigration offices in Blantyre and Lilongwe.